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MEXICO
- VISAS AND RED
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Citizens of the USA, Canada,
the UK, Ireland, Australia,
New Zealand and much of
Western Europe need no visa
to enter Mexico as tourists
for less than 180 days.
Other Western Europeans can
stay for 90 days. Non-US
citizens travelling via the
USA, however, may need a US
visa.
What every visitor does
need is a valid passport
and a tourist card
(or FMT - folleto de migración
turística). Tourist cards
are free, and if you're
flying direct, you should
get one on the plane, or
from the airline before
leaving. A good travel agent
should be able to arrange
one for you, too. Otherwise
they're issued by Mexican
consulates, in person or by
post. Every major US city
and most border towns have a
Mexican consulate; tourist
cards and vehicle import
forms are also available
from all AAA offices in
California, Arizona, New
Mexico and Texas. Finally,
failing all these, you
should be able to get
tourist cards at airports or
border crossings on arrival.
However, if they've run out,
you'll have to twiddle your
thumbs until the next batch
comes in, and if your
passport is not issued by a
rich Western country, you
may encounter difficulty in
persuading border officials
to give you a card at all;
it's therefore preferable to
get one in advance.
Most people officially
need a passport to pick up
their tourist card, but for
US and Canadian citizens all
that's required is proof of
citizenship (an original
birth certificate or
notarized copy, for
instance, or naturalization
papers), along with some
form of photo ID (such as a
driver's license). US and
Canadian citizens can even
enter Mexico without a
passport if they carry such
documents plus their tourist
card with them, but it's not
advisable, since officials
checking your ID may not be
aware of this right.
A tourist card is valid
for a single entry only: if
you intend to enter and
leave Mexico more than once,
you should pick up two or
three. On the card, you are
asked how long you intend to
stay: always apply for
longer than you need, since
getting an extension is a
frustrating and
time-consuming business. You
don't always get the time
you've asked for in any
case: in particular, at
Mexico's borders with Belize
and Guatemala to the south,
you will probably only get
thirty days (though they may
give you more if you
specifically ask), and
entering via Chiapas state
means you're likely only to
get fifteen days (extensions
unlikely). Especially if you
are not from a rich country,
you may also be asked to
show sufficient funds for
your stay.
A tourist card isn't
strictly necessary for
anyone who only intends to
visit the northern border
towns and stay less than
three days (though you still
need a passport or photo
ID). In fact, the entire US
frontier strip is a
duty-free area into which
you can come and go more or
less as you please; heading
further south beyond this
zone, however, there are
checkpoints on every road
after about 30km, and you'll
be sent back if you haven't
brought the necessary
documents and been through
customs and immigration.
Don't lose the blue copy
of your tourist card, which
is given back to you after
immigration inspection. You
are legally required to
carry it at all times, and
if you have to show your
papers, it's more important
than your passport. Also,
the blue copy must be handed
in on leaving the country -
without it, you may
encounter hassle and delay.
Should you lose your
tourist card, or need to
have it renewed, head for
the nearest immigration
department office (Departmento
de Migracíon); there are
downtown branches in the
biggest cities. In the case
of renewal, it's far simpler
to cross the border for a
day and get a new one on
re-entry than to apply for
an extension; if you do
apply to the immigration
department, it's wise to do
so a couple of weeks in
advance, though you may be
told to come back nearer the
actual expiry date. Whatever
else you may be told,
branches of SECTUR (the
tourist office) cannot renew
expired tourist cards or
replace lost ones - they
will only make sympathetic
noises and direct you to the
nearest immigration office.
Visas, obtainable only
through a consulate (in
person or by mail), are
required by nationals of
South Africa and most
non-industrialized
countries, as well as by
anyone entering Mexico to
work or to study for more
than 180 days. Business
visitors need a Business
Authorization Card available
from consulates, and usually
a visa too. Anyone under 18
travelling without both
parents needs their written
consent.
US visas
Non-US citizens travelling
through the US on the way
to or from Mexico, or
stopping over there, may
need a US visa . If
there's even a possibility
you might stop in the US,
unless you are Canadian or
from a country on the US
visa waiver scheme,
obtaining a visa in
advance is a sensible
precaution. You can expect
a certain amount of
queuing wherever you apply
in person, but you can
always apply by post
instead, provided you
allow enough time (usually
four weeks). A number of
countries, including
Britain, the Netherlands,
Denmark and Germany, but
not Australia, New
Zealand, Ireland or South
Africa, are on a visa
waiver scheme, designed to
speed up lengthy
immigration procedures.
Visa waiver forms are
available from travel
agencies, the airline
during check-in, or on the
plane, and must be
presented to immigration
on arrival. Be sure to
return the part stapled
into your passport when
you leave the US: if it
isn't returned within the
visa expiry time, computer
records automatically log
you as an illegal alien.
If re-entering the US by
land from Mexico, you will
need to have a form with
you in order to be exempt
from visa requirements, so
make sure you get one in
advance. Getting a US visa
in Mexico will be a
nightmare of queuing and
frustration.
Many US airports do not
have transit lounges, so
even if you are on a
through flight you may
have to go through US
immigration and customs.
This can easily take two
hours, so bear the delay
in mind if you have an
onward flight to catch.
Mexican consulates and
embassies abroad
The following all issue
visas and tourist cards.
AUSTRALIA
14 Perth Ave,
Yarralumla, Canberra, ACT
2600 (tel 02/6273 3963);
135 New South Head Rd,
Edgecliff, Sydney, NSW
2027 (tel 02/9326 1292).
BELIZE
20 N Park St, Belize
City (tel 02/30193 or
30194).
CANADA
45 O'Connor St, Suite
1500, Ottawa, ON K1P 1A4 (tel
613/233-8988); 2000
Mansfield, Montréal, PQ
H3A 2Z7 (tel
514/288-2502); 199 Bay St,
Suite 4440, Commerce Court
W, Toronto, ON M5L 1E9 (tel
416/368-2875); 810-1130 W
Pender St, Vancouver, BC
V6E 4A4 (tel
604/684-3547).
CUBA
C 12, #518, Miramar,
Playa, Havana 6 (tel
07/242383).
GUATEMALA
13 C 7-30, Zona 9,
Guatemala City (tel 02/334
2981); 9a Av 6-19, Zona 1,
Quetzaltenango (tel 09/763
1312).
IRELAND
43 Ailesbury Rd,
Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 (tel
01/260 0699).
NEW ZEALAND
111-115 Customhouse
Quay, 8th floor,
Wellington (tel 04/472
5555).
UK
8 Halkin St, London
SW1X 8QR (tel 020/7235
6393, www.mexicanconsulate.org.uk
).
USA
2827 16th St NW,
Washington, DC 20036 (tel
202/736-1000); and in
fifty other US towns and
cities, among them those
in the border states
listed below:
Arizona 541 10th
St, Douglas, AZ 85607 (tel
520/364-3107); 486 Grand
Ave, Nogales, AZ 85621 (tel
602/287-2521).
California 331 W
2nd St, Calexico, CA 92231
(tel 619/357-3863); 1549
India St, San Diego, CA
92101 (tel 619/231-9741).
Texas 724 E
Elizabeth St, Brownsville,
TX 78520 (tel
512/542-2051); 300 E
Loyosa St, Del Rio, TX
78840 (tel 210/775-2352);
140 Adams St, Eagle Pass,
TX 78852 (tel 210/773-9255
or 773-9256); 910 E San
Antonio St, El Paso, TX
79901 (tel 915/533-3644 or
533-3645); 1612 Farragut
St, Laredo, TX 78040 (tel
210/723-6369); 600 S
Broadway Ave, McAllen, TX
78501 (tel 210/686-0243 or
686-0244); 127 Navarro St,
San Antonio, TX 78205 (tel
210/227-1085).
Embassies and consulates
in Mexico
Australia Rubén
Darío 55, Colonia Polanco,
11580 Mexico City DF (tel
5531-5225); and in
Guadalajara and Monterrey.
Canada Schiller
529, Colonia Rincon del
Bosque, Polanco, 11560
Mexico City DF (tel
5724-7900); and in
Acapulco, Cancún,
Guadalajara, Mazatlán,
Monterrey, Oaxaca, Puerto
Vallarta, San José del
Cabo and Tijuana.
Ireland Blvd
Manuel Avila Camacho 76-3,
Colonia Lomas de
Chapultepec, 11000 Mexico
City DF (tel 5520-5803).
New Zealand José
Luis Lagrange 103, 10th
floor, Colonia Los
Morales, Polanco, 11510
Mexico City DF (tel
5281-5486).
UK Río Lerma
71, Colonia Cuauhtémoc,
06500 México DF (tel
5207-2089); and in
Acapulco, Cancún, Ciudad
Juárez, Guadalajara, Mérida,
Monterrey, Oaxaca, Tampico,
Tijuana and Veracruz.
USA Paseo de la
Reforma 305, Colonia
Cuauhtémoc, 06500 México
DF (tel 5209-9100); and in
Ciudad Juárez,
Guadalajara, Hermosillo,
Matamoros, Mérida,
Monterrey, Nogales, Nuevo
Laredo and Tijuana;
addresses for these and
for consular agents in
other Mexican cities are
listed on www.usembassy.org.mx/edirector.html
.
Customs
Duty-free allowances
into Mexico are three
bottles of liquor
(including wine), plus
four hundred cigarettes or
fifty cigars or 250g of
tobacco, plus twelve rolls
of camera film or
camcorder tape. The
monetary limit for
duty-free goods is US$150.
Returning home, note that
it is illegal to take
antiquities out of the
country, and penalties are
serious.
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